10/21
Both are no longer Mormons
Line of Events
Two young religious women are drawn into a cat and mouse game in the home of a strange man. Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East in Heretic, and more modern women killing it in the horror game. Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East were raised Mormons, so they could have passed on valuable information about the religion during filming. The credits state that Generative Al was not used in the film. Featured in Movie Reviews: Heretic | The Best Christmas Special Ever (2024). The Air That I Breathe Written by Albert Hammond and Mike Hazlewood Performed by The Hollies. If, like me, you watched this movie because you wanted to see Hugh Grant as a terrifying villain, then you will not be disappointed. Heretic is the story of 2 young Mormons visiting the home of Mr. Reed, played by Hugh Grant.
Now for Mr
However, things are not as they seem. Right at the beginning you meet two Mormons, Sister Barnes played by Sophie Thatcher and Sister Paxton played by Chloe East. I personally came to this movie for the Hugh Grant show but these two actresses did a great job and both gave great performances. Since this movie is really only 3 characters it is important that 2/3 of the cast do their part and they do! Sophie Thatcher’s character, Sister Barnes, I would say is the more in-depth of the 2 Mormons and has the more experience of the two. Chloe East’s character, Sister Paxton, is a new missionary who feels more religious than her counterpart and wants to proselytize and spread the word of God. Both of their performances are mostly about them being afraid of Mr. Reed and thankfully neither of them fall into the foolish protagonist mold. Reed, played by Hugh Grant.
And he is
It is hard to pinpoint exactly how Hugh Grant plays this character so well. Because the way he acts is not innate or scary in any way. It’s more of a case of context that makes Mr. Reed scary. The way he delivers his dialogue is so calm and in a way it’s like he’s lecturing. He’s trying to educate and enlighten two Mormons. The way Mr. Reed disgusted me was the way he’s condescending and talks down to you. That and the fact that we’re in a weird, creepy house where the lights are on a timer and the ceiling is dripping.
Reed just feels weird!
Mr. I mentioned the dialogue above. Writers/directors Scott Beck and Bryan Woods wrote Heretic beautifully. Giving each character their own identity through their dialogue. Heretic had great cinematography with effective use of close-ups and panning shots. The sound design was simple but effective. The sound of creaking floorboards, dripping, and old metal locks and doors really emphasized the idea that this was an old, rustic home. Now, this is a spoiler-free review, so I won’t go into that part too much, but one aspect of the film that I wish they had explored more was the idea of the maze. The figurines and model of the maze are featured on the poster and trailer for the film, but they aren’t all that important to the film.
Overall, I enjoyed Heretic
So if you were expecting a maze-style horror movie, I would have been disappointed. That said, the set design was pretty minimalist, there wasn’t much to really talk about. But what was there was simple and effective. A key theme in Heretic is religion and faith. This film does a great job of showing both sides of the coin without feeling like it’s favoring or attacking one opinion over the other. It does a good job of balancing it out, which is important to not feel like it’s attacking the views or beliefs of the audience. I will say that in my opinion, the film wasn’t all that scary. That doesn’t bother me, but it was released around Halloween and was marketed as a horror film, so that may affect your enjoyment of the film, depending on what you were expecting. I would say it leans more towards the mystery and thrill elements, which I like better.
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